Heartlanders start 7-game road trip at Rapid City

Rapid City, SD – The Iowa Heartlanders, proud ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild, make the team’s second-ever trip to Rapid City, starting a three-game set against the Rush Friday at 8:05 p.m.

The Heartlanders are playing their first of seven straight games away from Xtream Arena; Iowa completed a six-game homestand last week vs. Fort Wayne, winning one of three games against the Komets. 

Those six home games from Dec. 15-Dec. 23 encompassed the only six Heartlanders home games between Nov. 23 – Jan. 15,  a stretch where Iowa plays 23 games and 17 of them are on the road.

Iowa is 11-12-4-1 (27 pts.), while the Rush sit at 10-13-4-0 (24 pts.).

The teams play twice more this week – Sat., Dec. 30 at 8:05 p.m. and Sun., Dec. 31 at 8:05 p.m. 

Get tickets for Heartlanders Home games: Iowaheartlanders.com/tickets

Game Day Guide: 

7:50 PM: FloHockey broadcast and audio broadcast starts.

8:05 PM: Puck Drop 

Watch on FloHockey: https://flosports.link/3tVsLmd

Listen on Mixlr: mixlr.com/goheartlanders

 

Need to know
- Yuki Miura scored his fourth goal of the season Dec. 23, giving the alternate captain three of his four this month.

- Iowa is 2-1-0-0 all time at Rapid City and 2-2-1-0 ever against the Rush.

- Since Dec. 12, the Heartlanders have scored at least a goal in 24 of 33 periods (72.7%).

Affiliates: Iowa Heartlanders (Minnesota Wild/Iowa Wild) | Rapid City Rush (Calgary Flames/Calgary Wranglers)

Scouting the Heartlanders

The Heartlanders wrapped up a six-game homestand last Saturday in Coralville, and now set for a cross-divisional showdown against Rapid City. Davis Koch leads Iowa with 15 goals and 25 points in 28 games. Entering the week, he is five back of Idaho’s Mark Rassell for the league lead. 

Odeen Tufto is best on Iowa with 19 assists, just outside the league’s top ten. 

Peyton Jones leads Iowa with eight wins, a 3.06 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage. 

Quick series recap

The Heartlanders and Rush played twice to open the regular season Oct. 19-20 at Xtream Arena, both tight Rush wins. On night one, Jimmy Soper scored the game’s first goal, and Rush forward Mark Duarte scored in the final two minutes to give the Rush a two-goal lead in a 4-2 victory. The next night, Pavel Novak scored his first two North American professional goals, but Jerrod Gourley scored the game’s last two goals to best the Heartlanders in overtime, 3-2. 

These next three games complete the cross-division foes’ five-game series.

Next up
The Heartlanders are at Rapid City on Sat., Dec. 30 at 8:05 p.m. and Sun., Dec. 31 at 8:05 p.m. 

The Heartlanders are next at home Mon., Jan. 15 at 2:05 p.m. vs. Cincinnati – schools are off for the day and bring your kids out for a great MLK Day at Xtream Arena.

Iowa continues a three-game homestand vs. Wheeling on Fri., Jan. 19 at 6:35 p.m. on Affiliation Night presented by DASH Auctions, celebrating Iowa’s proud affiliation with the Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild. On Sat., Jan. 20 at 6:05 p.m. against Wheeling, the Heartlanders are back at Xtream Arena for Dash’s Birthday Party, presented by Paul Park Real Estate. Join the Heartlanders mascot Dash and dozens of his mascot friends for a family-friendly Saturday night at Xtream Arena.

Rose Club Memberships & Tickets Now Available For 2023-24 Season
Rose Club Season Ticket Memberships, Partial Plans, Mini-Plans, Flex Tickets and Single-Game Tickets are now available for the 2023-24 season, the Heartlanders’ third in the ECHL. Call 319-569-GOAL or visit iowaheartlanders.com/tickets for more information.